An Easter Gift
by Macetree
Summary: Bunny panted to a stop, checking the old watch attached to his wrist. A few minutes ahead of schedule, thank goodness. He sighed, then made his way to his favorite break spot. He had hinged most of his hopes on this break, using it to push his tired legs onward for the last twenty hours or so. He tried not to think of how disappointed he might be. (My first fic!) Please Review!


_I´ve made a few changes, but it´s the same story as before. FYI this is actually just an excerpt from my much larger fic, _**Doctor Bunnymund**_. I just recently posted it, and it´s all about our favorite Easter Bunny. You should go read and review it!_

_Enjoy!_

. . . . .

Sophie had her tongue stuck out in concentration, her small hand gripped the huge crayon with no grace whatsoever. Bright green eyes sharpened in concentration as she made each shaky stroke with deliberation. She had to double check her guide, seeing as she still couldn´t read. _Yes, she was doing it right_. Her focus riveted back to the boiled egg in her hand. _Two more lines. . . and... yes_! Her shoulders relaxed as she heaved a sigh of relief and pushed her messy hair out of her face with her elbow. She set the egg aside with the others and started drawing on a piece of white paper. The five-year old much preferred drawing to writing, and she hummed a song as she colored. Many minutes passed until she was finally satisfied.

She looked around, detecting her mother´s presence a few rooms over. The small girl stood up and crept to her father´s office, a purple plastic Easter egg in one hand and her guide paper in the other. She could probably remember the letters, having slaved over them three times already, but she wanted to be sure. Once inside, she stalked to the desk, fished out a black marker that had the word _Sharpie_ printed on the body. Looking around, she twisted the lid open, wincing at the squeak it made. Checking one more time that she was alone, she knelt down and placed her guide paper in front of her, gripping the purple egg securely in her right hand as she unconsciously stuck out her tongue again. She didn´t mean to rush it, but felt so nervous that this rendition of the words was much shakier and disproportionate than the last. She finished quickly, smudging the ink a little by accident as she capped the marker and placed it in its original location. Then she gathered the evidence and slinked back to her room.

She took a break to play with her stuffed animals, but was back to business within a few minutes. Folding the drawing as neatly as she could, she squashed it into the plastic egg. _No! the egg won´t shut all the way!_ She narrowed her bright green eyes in frustration and crept back to the office to steal some tape. Once she got back, she locked the egg shut with the adhesive, and nodded firmly at its submission.

She looked over her project, checking off her to do list in her head.

"Almost done," she whispered to her stuffed hedgehog. She placed the fruits of her labor into her Easter basket and tip toed outside. Both her and Jamie were allowed to play outside in the yard, so there was no need to sneak. However, she didn´t want to be caught with the sharpie egg.

Once she was behind the largest bush in the furthest corner of their yard, she crouched and gently placed her precious cargo into the grass nest she had prepared hours earlier. Once satisfied, she smiled and did a little dance of excitement.

"Sophie? Lunch time!" called a voice from the house.

"Coming, mom!" she called, and she skipped obediently in.

. . . . .

Bunny heaved a sigh of relief. He was in Burgess now; Easter was about 65% finished. It was nighttime, which was unusual. Due to his having to hide the eggs by hand these past few years, he had switched his routine to copy that of the other three original guardians. Working at night gave him more time, and time was what he needed.

But now he was going to take the one break he had planned for the night. Only a few minutes at the Bennet house to eat and get his second wind. A breather, really. . . He wouldn´t let himself admit that it was mostly to check in on his favorite child. He sped through the town, summoning his minions through his tunnels and hiding the eggs manually in basketfuls quicker than light.

He finished the town, and made his way to the Bennet house. This was always the moment that he looked forward to the most, but also dreaded at the same time. He hadn´t visited her in person ever since the Pitch fiasco, despite Jack´s constant pestering. Jack was young, and he didn´t yet know how hard it was to have a once-believer walk through you. Bunny pushed these thoughts away as he crept through the toy-littered yard. _It´s just a breather, _he thought. _There´s nothing there, I´m just taking a break. _

Climbing deftly over the picket fence, he tried valiantly to avoid searching for what he hoped was there. . .

But couldn´t help himself.

His eyes darted over the ground more and more anxiously until he saw it. A nest! A beautiful, misshapen tangle of a grass nest underneath his favorite shrub. He chuckled to himself. _I should´ve known. She must have spotted me here last time,_ he thought.

He hopped over, a large smile on his tired face. He gazed down at the beautiful treasures. Five of them, each unique. One of them was plastic, which surprised him. He looked first at the painted eggs. Three of them had his name scrawled in various colors of crayon over the vinegar-dyed shells. The colors were all bright and fresh, like the flowers that grew in the Bennet garden. One of them had simple designs drawn on it, also in crayon. His smile widened and he let out a soft, true laugh without realizing it. He stowed the eggs carefully in his satchel, removing the food he had completely forgotten about. Scooting the carrots and oranges aside, he sat down to eat as he opened the plastic jewel.

It was covered in tape, which is why he hadn´t originally noticed the writing. _For Bunny_ was barely legible, but it made his heart warm anyway. Having finally removed enough tape, he opened the egg. He was expecting some candy, like the fake eggs sold at the supermarkets. Instead, a folded paper was revealed. He was glad he hadn´t started eating yet, since he didn´t want to stain the priceless page.

He unfolded it carefully, and recognized the scene immediately. There was a green, grassy background, large stone golems, tiny white eggs with legs perching on every surface, and a little blonde girl holding the hand of a grey-furred Bunny. There was a purple heart surrounding them. _How can one so small be so sweet? _he wondered. He gazed at the picture for another minute before feeling like he was being watched. He froze, moving only his eyes to find whoever was spying on him. He didn´t need to look for long, because she was waving at him. He smiled again, somewhat surprised as he waved back at the messy-haired little blonde. Her nose was pressed against her window and she was smiling, both hands fluttering in greeting.

_It´s all worth it, _thought Bunny as he carefully folded her picture and nestled it into its container, placing it and his ignored food carefully back into his satchel. He turned back, just as Sophie blew him a kiss. His face started to hurt with how wide his grin had become. He blew a kiss back, and retrieved the special gift he had brought for her.

When he had started making it, he had told himself that it was just an emergency gift; just in case he came across a random child tonight who needed it. Incidentally, he had made it just the right size for a 5-year-old girl, and had randomly chosen a metal that he thought would go nicely with yellow hair.

She jumped up and down from her post as he showed it to her, and placed it carefully in the nest she had prepared. He couldn´t help laughing again at her enthusiasm. He picked some grass and covered the small object, then turned to wave a final goodbye. She pressed her hand against the glass, tilting her head to the side.

He decided to break routine, just for tonight, and leaped up to the roof in two bounds. He padded softly to her window and pressed his hand against the glass, where hers was. His harsh green eyes were as soft as clovers. She smiled, and waved to him after blowing one last kiss. He winked at her gently, and leapt off the roof and toward the next town.

. . . . .

He finished his rounds much quicker than he thought he´d be able to, especially since he´d forgotten to refuel. Once he was home, he went straight to his library. His favorite room, and the one he spent most of his downtime in. He opened his satchel and carefully arranged his new treasures on one of the shelves, next to the four eggs from last year, and the three from the year before that.

He sank down onto the only furniture in the library, fitting perfectly into the worn indent of the faded, hole-ridden armchair. Pulling out his snack, he munched away as he imagined how he hoped her eyes would light up when she found the simple chainmail bracelet he had left for her. _I´ll need to cover those four googies in resin later so they don´t break,_ he mused. _And I bet that drawing would look good in a cedar-wood frame. . ._ he thought as he finished his snack. The rare, true laugh of his escaped for the second time that night as he rose to put his things away quickly. He didn´t consider why he chose to sleep in his armchair instead of his bed that night as he pulled a blanket over his legs. His smile relaxed slightly as he fell asleep, his dreams filled with happy Easter scenes for the first time in a long time.

_There is it, friends. Please tell me how it made you feel, and anything you think I could improve by changing. _

_Thanks for reading! _


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